Last Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of the attempted massacre of GOP lawmakers while practicing for the annual Congressional Baseball Game. The assailant, who was a Senator Bernie Sanders supporter, took it upon himself to end the lives of these lawmakers because they held views he opposed. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, who barely survived the attack, had this retrospective: “Look, God was on that ballfield that day. There were miracles that no one can explain except that God was there protecting us, and I thank God every day that He was there to look out for all of us.”

There is no question these GOP lawmakers and staff were under the protective hand of God that day, since Scalise has miraculously pulled through stronger than ever. None of these lawmakers has ever held Bernie Sanders culpable for the actions of his supporter. The world of politics, though, has drastically changed. The radical Left has moved so far from the center that some lifelong liberals are looking downright conservative.

With this deepening of the political divide has come an uptick in violence, which is not spread evenly across the political parties. The Left is responsible for the vast majority of the violence that is wrecking our nation.

The rhetoric from both the Left and the mainstream media (the Left’s political propaganda machine) has encouraged all sorts of violence and hatred.

• In 2020, it all reached a chaotic boiling point. The death of George Floyd sparked the flames of rage against institutions, police, and “whiteness.” The idea that had been simmering under the radar — critical race theory — came charging to the forefront of the national conversation. The summer of riots ripped through the country, causing $2 billion in damages and costing innocent people their lives and livelihoods. Instead of calling for the riots to cease, people like the current vice president, Kamala Harris, donated to bail funds to break these lawless hoodlums out of jail. The mainstream media tried to paint these life-ruining riots as “fiery but mostly peaceful.” The Left continued to gleefully stir the pot of racial hate and has been pushing the idea of inequity more ferociously ever since.

• In December 2021, the Supreme Court heard Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization — the most important abortion case of our generation. It challenges the Roe v. Wade decision and potentially reverts the question of abortion back to the states to decide. Dobbs will be announced sometime over the next few weeks, but the hearing itself sparked vitriolic protests. Some pro-abortion women even resorted to taking abortion pills outside the Supreme Court Building as a way of showing how far they were willing to take their defiance.

• Also in December, a leftist black supremacist plowed his SUV through a Christmas parade, killing seven, including a child. This horrible event was quickly silenced as if it had never happened.

• In April, another black supremacist attacked unsuspecting subway users in New York City with smoke bombs and guns. This too was quickly memory-holed by the media.

• In May, someone leaked a Supreme Court draft ruling on Dobbs. The draft signaled that the ill-conceived Roe decision would be overturned, and the pro-abortion advocates went insane. They have been protesting illegally outside the conservative justices’ homes with no condemnation from the White House. There have been constant attacks of vandalism and even firebombing on churches and pro-life centers. The terrorist groups of radicalized pro-abortion activists are threatening even more drastic action. A man even flew to Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home to assassinate him. The Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have done nothing — that is until last week, when the FBI finally agreed to investigate the attacks against churches and crisis pregnancy centers. The Senate unanimously passed a bill to have additional security protect the justices from further attacks. The House was more reluctant; 27 Democrats voted “No” to more protection for the justices and their families.

This escalation in political violence is to be anticipated when one political party paints the other as its enemy. It results in polls that say 44% of leftist young men think political violence is an acceptable means of achieving their political agenda. It results in assassination attempts. It exposes the worst of humanity, exploits the vulnerable, and foments deeper irrevocable rifts.

This horrific state of affairs cannot even begin to be mended until the Left admits wrongdoing and makes amends. Sadly, though, its pursuit of power continues, as does the violence.